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King Edward Avenue and the speed camera: what it revealed and what we’ve taken away
By Josiah Frith As I write this, a few blocks from King Edward Avenue, the sound of a truck engine brake cuts through the morning. It’s a familiar interruption here – not occasional, but routine – and it says more about the street than any traffic report. King Edward is not behaving like an ordinary…
Having the courage to change
By Josiah Frith, Lowertown Community Association There was a time when horses ruled Ottawa’s streets, pulling carts, carriages, and wagons through Lowertown and beyond. But the charm wore thin. Horses were unpredictable, left the roads filthy with manure, and limited the city’s ability to grow. So came the trains. By the mid-1800s, rail lines were…
Beating summer heat in 1920s Lowertown
By Nancy Miller Chenier On July 13, 1921, the temperature in Ottawa reached 38° C (100 Fahrenheit). The heat had been building for weeks and residents of Lowertown were sweltering. Men, women, and children were seeking every method possible to get relief from the weeks of hot weather. So, what were some of the options…
New consequences for demolition by neglect
By Allen Brown Representatives from the Lowertown Community Association (LCA) and Heritage Ottawa (HO) expressed their concerns about the proposed demolition of 79 Guigues Street at the December 10, 2024, meeting of the city’s Built Heritage Committee (BHC). The 125-year-old home is only a block away from three other buildings on St. Patrick Street lost…
Support your community newspaper. Donate to The Echo!
A special request . . . from the team at the Lowertown Echo The Echo is published four times a year by a small, hardworking team of volunteers. We give our time and energies freely to support our beloved local journal and our community. We keep our costs moderately low – about $3,000 per issue (for printing)…
Read the latest issue of The Echo! (16-2, May 2025)
Download the full PDF version here.

